Multisection apparatus with conveying means for carrying out mass-exchange processes in solid-liquid systems

ABSTRACT

An apparatus, which comprises a cylindrical casing divided by partitions into sections and accommodating a shaft with mixing devices, said devices being made as dishes that are rigidly fixed on said shaft and arranged within each said section, buckets being attached to the outside of said dishes; each of said dishes being provided with at least one aperture in the space defined by one of said buckets, and at least one of the other of said buckets having an aperture in the bottom portion thereof.

United States tet [19] Kavepa et a1.

s aaera Apr, 3, 1973 [54} MULTISECTHON APPARATUS WHTH CONVEYING MEANS FOR CARRYHNG OUT MASS-EXCHANGE PROCESSES IN SOLID-LIQUID SYSTEMS lnventors: Alexandr Alexandrovich Kavepai Assignee:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

US. Cl.

Anatoly Anatolievich Nitkovskihh, both of Krasnodar; Vladimir Andreevich Grigoriev, Moscow; Arkady Borisovich Pashkov, Moscow; Yakov Vulfovich Epshtein, Moscow, all of USSR.

Proektno-Konstruk-torshoe Bjuro p0 Proektirovani in Oborndovania dlya Proizvodstva Plasticheskikh Mass i, Moscow, U.S.S.R.

Nov. 9, 1970 Int. Cl

..................... ..C08g 35/00, BOlj 1/08 [58] Field of Search....23/285, 252, 260, 267, 270 R, 23/2705, 310; 134/25 R; 259]), 10,68, 69-, 210/33; 260/22- Reierences Cited FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATEONS 9/1946 Great Britain ..23/270 Primary Examiner-James H. Tayman, Jr. Attorney-Holman & Stern [57] ABSTRAKIT An apparatus, which comprises a cylindrical casing divided by partitions into sections and accommodating a shaft with mixing devices, said devices being made as dishes that are rigidly fixed on said shaft and arranged within each said section, buckets being attached to the outside of said dishes; each of said dishes being provided with at least one aperture in the space defined by one of said buckets, and at least one of the other of said buckets having an aperture in the bottom portion thereof.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures r p w rr MI JLTISECTION APPARATUS WITH CONVEYING MEANS FOR CARRYING OUT MASS- EXCHANGE PROCESSES IN SOLE-HQ SYSTEMS The present invention relates to multi-cell apparatus with conveyor for carrying out reaction and massexchange processes in a solid-liquid system, and more particularly to apparatus for carrying out processes of sulphonation and washing of copolymer granules in the course of continuous production of cation exchangers on the basis of sulphonated copolymers.

Known in the art is a device for carrying out massexchange processes in a solid-liquid system, comprising a casing divided by partitions into sections or compartments and accommodating a shaft mounting mixing arrangements.

This known device, however, fails to ensure a uniform and counterflow motion of the components which are mixed in each section or compartment defined by the partitions. Not all the granules are transferred from one section to another simultaneously, and certain portions thereof may happen to remain in some of the sections for some time which cannot be defined. This results in non-homogeneity of the final product. Such a phenomenon will take place, for example, in case of sulphonation and washing of granules of a copolymer in the course of continuous production of cation exchangers on the basis of sulphonated copolymers.

It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the above-stated disadvantages. temperature The specific object of the invention is to provide a multi-cell apparatus with conveyor for carrying out reaction and mass-exchange processes in a solid-liquid system, which would ensure the mixing of the solid phase with the liquid one in the course of a gradual and uniform motion thereof in a counterflow, as well as required temeperature conditions for obtaining a homogeneous final product by virtue of modifications in the design of the mixing arrangement.

Said specific object is accomplished in that, in the multicell apparatus with conveyor for carrying out reaction and mass-exchange processes in a solid-liquid system, comprising a cylindrical casing divided by partitions into sections and accommodating a shaft mounting mixing devices, according to the invention, said mixing and conveying devices are made as hollow conical dishes rigidly fixed on the shaft and arranged within each section defined by the partitions, buckets being attached to the outside of said dishes, each of the dishes having at least one aperture in its conical wall in the space defined by one of the buckets, while at least one of the other buckets is provided with an aperture in the bottom portion thereof.

It is expedient that said dishes be made as hollow truncated cones.

It is also expedient that three such conical dishes should be arranged within each section of the apparatus, with buckets being fixed thereon, said dishes being perforated, and the partitions being provided with apertures for transporting the liquid and product in a countercurrent.

The present invention may be used in installations for the synthesis of ion-exchange materials and in inv stallations where ion-exchange resins are used, for example, with a view to extracting rare metals from sea water, as well as in carrying out other processes associated with the production and utilization of ionexchange resins.

The invention may best be understood from the following description of preferred forms of embodiment of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section of the multi-cell apparatus with conveyor for carrying out reaction and mass-exchange processes in a solid-liquid system, according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a section taken along the line II-II in FIG.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the apparatus of the invention for carrying out reaction and mass-exchange processes in a solid-liquid system;

FIGS. 4, 5 show versions of making apertures in the partitions of the apparatus of the invention.

The apparatus of the invention for carrying out reac tion and mass-exchange processes in a solid-liquid system comprises a cylindrical casingli (FIGS. I and 3) with jackets 2 for heating and cooling, said casing I being divided by partitions 3 into sections. Each partition 3 has avcentral aperture.

The'shaft 4 is capable of rotation and carries devices that are rigidly mounted thereon and adapted for mixing and advancing granules in a countercurrent to a liquid phase. Said devices are made as conical dishes 6 (FIG. I), to the outside of which buckets '7 are attached. The larger cone base 5a of each conical dish 6 enters the aperture 5 of the partition 3, the number of the conical dishes 6 corresponding to the number of sections in the casing l.

Each of the conical dishes 6 has an aperture 8 (FIG. 2) in its conical wall in the space defined by the bucket 7a. One of the other buckets designated at 717 has an aperture 9 in the bottom portion thereof.

As can be seen in FIG. 3, three conical dishes 10 with buckets '7 can be arranged in each section of the apparatus. In this case the dishes 10 are made perforated for ensuring free circulation of the liquid phase within each particular section, whereby a better contact of the solid phase with the liquid is attained. In this case partitions 11 are provided with apertures 12 (FIGS. 4 and 5), which, depending on the nature of the material being processed, are disposed either in the upper, or in the lower portion of, the partition 11. The casing 11 of the apparatus (FIGS. 1 and 3) is provided with a plurality of pipes: a pipe 13 serves for feeding the solid phase, a pipe 14 serves for admitting the liquid phase, a pipe 15 serves for the outlet of the liquid phase, a pipe 16 serves for removing volatile products, and a pipe 17 is used for letting out the granulated product. Also envisaged in the casing l of the apparatus is a discharge means 18 for the removal of the granulated product through the pipe 17.

In the first embodiment of the apparatus (as shown in FIG. I) each conical dish 6 is provided with four buckets. The apparatus consists of 10 sections defined by partitions 3. It is obvious, that the number of the buckets, sections and partitions is dictated only by the desired throughput of the apparatus and by the process conditions to be observed. The discharge means 1% can be of any suitable conventional design.

The operation of the present apparatus for carrying out reaction and mass-exchange processes in a solidliquid system proceeds as follows (FIG. 1).

A granulated product, such as a copolymer, is fed through the pipe 13 and into the first section of the apparatus. A liquid phase, such as sulphuric acid, is admitted into the last section of the apparatus through the pipe 14.

If the specific gravity of the granules is less than that of the liquid, they float on the surface of the liquid. In this case the bucket 7 of the first conical dish 6 makes the granules sink into the liquid and carries them through all the layers of the liquid in succession. Then the granules are taken over by the bucket 7b provided with aperture 9, and through this aperture 9 the granules pass into the next bucket 7 and are carried thereby. When the granules happen to be taken over by the bucket 7 which is featured by the presence of the aperture 8 in the space thereof, that is, in the wall of the tray, the granules pass through said aperture 8 into the next section of the apparatus, wherein the operation cycle is repeated.

Repeated performance of the above-described operation provides for an intensive contact of the granules with the liquid phase. The granules are gradually advanced along the reactor in a countercurrent to the liquid, which through the apertures 8 in the dishes 6 passes from one section into another.

Due to the provision of heating and cooling jackets 2 the necessary temperature conditions are ensured over the entire length of the apparatus.

It is expedient that industrial apparatus (FIG. 3) should comprise smaller number of sections (say, three sections, according to the number of heating zones), and three conical dishes 10 with buckets 7 fixed thereon should be arranged within each section, mounted in succession on the shaft 4. This will facilitate the assembly of industrial apparatus. In this case the outside diameter of the dishes 10 will be somewhat smaller than the inside diameter of the casing 1, and the trays will serve as partitions within particular sections defined by partitions 12.

The operation of the industrial apparatus is the same as described hereinabove.

As follows from the above disclosure, the present invention improves the contact of granulated materials with the liquid when carrying out reaction and mass exchange processes and ensures continuous production of a homogeneous final product.

What is claimed is:

1. A multi-cell apparatus with conveyor for carrying out mass-exchange processes in a solid-liquid system, comprising a cylindrical casing; partitions disposed within said casing and dividing said casing into sections; a shaft mounted within said casing; mixing and conveying devices made as dishes that are rigidly fixed on said shaft, and disposed within each said section, with a plurality of buckets fixed on the outside of said dishes; each of said dishes having at least one aperture in its conical wall in the space defined by one of said buckets, while at least one of the other of said buckets has an aperture in its bottom portion.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein each section accommodates three conical dishes with buckets attached thereto.

. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the partitions are provided with apertures for the liquid and product to be transferred in a countercurrent.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said conical dishes are made perforated.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF vCORRECTION Patent No. 3725013 Dated April 3, 1973 InVentor(s) Alexandr Alexandrovich Kavera It is certified that error appearsin the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

[75 Inventor ALEXANDR ALEXANDROVICH KAVERA Signed and sealed this 29th day of October 197a.

(SEAL) Attest:

McCOY M. GIBSON JR. c. MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents uscowwl-pc scan-P69 9 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE i969 0-366-384. 

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein each section accommodates three conical dishes with buckets attached thereto.
 3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the partitions are provided with apertures for the liquid and product to be transferred in a countercurrent.
 4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said conical dishes are made perforated. 